Happy Thoughts

Hi Everybody,
Today I got three projects I want to share with you, all of which form part of the Inspiration Round Up Post over at the STAMPlorations Blog. As you've probably noticed for one reason or another I didn't have much time this month to craft. Yesterday was the first day I could really sit down and indulge myself ...
With Spring having officially started, I thought the SKETCHED: Tulips would be the perfect stamp to work with. As always I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do which was that I wanted my tulips to be yellow with a hint of orange ... off I went to colour some using Promarkers and watercolour pencils.
Here is my first card using the fuzzy cut Promarker coloured image ...

Initially I thought I'd add some splashes or dotty patterned paper to my background, but after trying out various options, I decided that I wanted to keep this card crisp and clean ... and the dotty paper morphed into a dotty embossed piece of white card and a strip of dotty ribbon. Once layered, I simply added a framed sentiment from the Blossom Overture stamp set, our current STAMP CLUB set, a punched butterfly and gems to finish.
My watercoloured Tulip image is next and I went all out grungy for a floral birthday card ...

The style of this one and my third card was inspired by the sprayed backgrounds I made a while ago when trying out my Artiste Spirtzing Inks (docrafts) on lining paper. Lining paper is great as it drys flat after being wet. With it being cream which mutes the colours somewhat, it is also ideal to create a grunge or vintage look for your card. This card simply developed as I went along. First I stamped the Chevrons and Arrows in apricot pigment ink (ColorBox), next I spritzed some brown and peach splashes, then I added the stitching (PATCHWORK FRENZY: Graphic Squares) to two of the corners and stamped the rings and circles using the ring stamp and its reverse from the Newlyweds Extras set (The Bees Knees by STAMPlorations). It is great for almost bubble like stamping. I layered it all up, added my white embossed sentiment (VIGNETTE: Chevron & Arrows) and finished off by adding a few green metal embellies.
Next up is another Grunge Card ...

I started off by stenciling the word HUGS from the ARTplorations Stencils: Hello & Company in red over my sprayed background. To add dimension I first drew the outline of the word in a darker red and added some partial white outline using my chalk marker. I then added some more stenciling using the ARTplorations Stencils: Hearts All Over around the outside allowing it to fade towards the center. I then added some splashes and rings from the Holiday Artsy set before rounding three corners, layering on my light cream base card, attaching my sentiment banner (VIGNETTE: Chevron & Arrows) and finishing off with a tiny punched heart. I did contemplate adding some bling, but decided against it given that the spritzing ink is already pearlescent and that it would make a good masculine birthday card as it stands.

Hope you enjoyed my little offering today.
Back soon with more inspiration ...
Have a lovely day!

Hugs
Monika xxx


What I used from STAMPlorations:
      

from Stampin'Up!
early espresso, bravo burgundy, riding hood red, pumpkin pie, rich razzleberry inks; chalk marker; early espresso and rich razzleberry card; owl builder (tiny heart) and small butterfly punches

ribbon - Fantastic Ribbons

gems and other card from stash